Hydration and Nutrition

What athletes eat and drink before and during a competition can be critical to their performance. Read the following food and drink intake.

DINNER - The night before a competition. Athletes diet should be HIGH on Carbohydrates and LOW on Fat. This is a very important meal because the main energy reserves are from the previous day meals, not from the pre-game meal or big breakfast the day of the competition.

BREAKFAST - During a competition. During most competition days, the breakfast is the game meal. The pre-game meal offers very little for the energy production system. However, it can do a lot of damage if the wrong foods are consumed. It has been suggested that the player enter the game with stomach as empty as possible. When there is food in the stomach, the heart pumps large volumes of blood to the stomach to aid in the digestion. If playing or practicing, however, the blood is shunted to the working muscles, therefore stopping the digestive process. This often causes stomach cramps and gas, making the player very uncomfortable.